Assassination of Albert I of Habsburg (1308)

Timeline

1. 1307–1308Eastern Switzerland and the Swabian border · Swabian borderAlbert I's relations with his nephew John Parricida of Swabia had soured over the succession of Swabian lands and internal family conflicts; in late April 1308 he set out from Windisch toward Swabia and was ambushed en route.
2. 1308Rhine ferry crossing near Windisch · AargauOn the morning of May 1, John and his accomplices attacked Albert's party near the ferry crossing; the emperor was gravely wounded in the melee and died hours later, a rare imperial assassination in the late Middle Ages.
3. 1308Holy Roman Empire · Holy Roman EmpireThe emperor's death left the empire without a ruler for months; the princes held elections at Frankfurt and elsewhere, finally choosing Henry VII of Luxembourg that November, and the Habsburgs failed to regain the throne in the short term.